Method for providing digital compass function and portable terminal adapted thereto

Abstract

A method for providing a digital compass function and a portable terminal adapted to the method are disclosed. The cardinal points, north, south, east and west, are calculated based on the celestial body, such as the sun, the moon, a constellation, a particular star, etc. using the current time information and information of a location where the portable terminal is currently located. The direction of Mecca is calculated based on the calculated cardinal points and the current location information and displayed on the display unit.

1 . A method for providing digital compass functions, comprising:
 acquiring location information containing latitude and longitude and current time information;   calculating north, south, east and west, based on celestial body, using the location information and the current time information;   calculating the direction of Mecca based on the location information and the north, south, east and west; and   outputting a celestial image representing celestial body, the cardinal point image representing north, south, east and west, and an image representing the direction of Mecca.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 matching the direction of celestial body image with the actual direction of celestial body.   
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the celestial body comprises at least one of the sun, the moon, the constellation, and a particular star. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 storing prayer times;   detecting at least one of a change in the sunrise and sunset times of sun, a change in time according to the movement of the moon, and a change in time according to the movement of the constellation or the star, based on the location information and current time information; and   applying the changes to the stored prayer times and updating prayer times.   
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein acquiring location information and current time information comprises at least one of the following steps:
 storing a location information table containing latitude and longitude by cities, and collecting locating information containing latitude and longitude of a city selected via an input unit; and   acquiring location information based on a mobile country code (MCC) and a mobile network code (MNC) transmitted from a base station.   
   
   
       6 . A portable terminal that provides a digital compass function, comprising:
 a display unit for displaying screens according to the use of the portable terminal; and   a controller for controlling the display unit to output the direction of Mecca,   wherein the controller comprises:   a location information detector for detecting location information containing latitude and longitude;   a timer for providing current time information;   a Mecca direction detector for calculating north, south, east and west, based on a celestial body, using the location information and the current time information, and calculating the direction of Mecca based on the location information and the north, south, east and west; and   a screen output unit for outputting a celestial image representing the celestial body, the cardinal point image representing north, south, east and west, and an image representing the direction of Mecca.   
   
   
       7 . The portable terminal of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 a storage unit for storing prayer times in the format of a table.   
   
   
       8 . The portable terminal of  claim 7 , wherein the controller detects at least one of a change in the sunrise and sunset times of the sun, included in the celestial body, and a change in time according to the movement of the moon, and a change in time according to the movement of the constellation or the star, based on the location information and the current time information, and applies the changed times to the stored prayer times to update the prayer time table. 
   
   
       9 . The portable terminal of  claim 6 , wherein the display unit displays a screen for selecting at least one city name. 
   
   
       10 . The portable terminal of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a storage unit for storing a location information table containing latitude and longitude information by cities,   wherein the location information detector acquires location information regarding a selected city, referring to the location information table.   
   
   
       11 . The portable terminal of  claim 6 , wherein the controller acquires location information based on a mobile country code (MCC) and a mobile network code (MNC) transmitted from a base station.